Wall Block

ABSTRACT

A wall block includes a generally rectangular body including a decorative side that has four edges and five other sides; and a spacer integrated to at least one of i) the decorative side and ii) one of the five other sides that is adjacent the decorative side; the spacer being distanced from at least two adjacent edges of the decorative side so as to create a gap between two adjacent wall blocks when they are abutted. A block wall is constructed using a plurality of such wall blocks.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to masonry block walls. More specifically, the present disclosure is concerned with blocks for such a wall.

BACKGROUND

The construction of a block wall using conventional materials is time consuming as it requires the expensive skills of a mason. The expense related to adding mortar between blocks and the time required for building a block wall using conventional methods limit the use of these durable masonry block systems.

U.S. Pat. Publication No. 2006/0005500 A1, published on Jan. 12, 2006, naming Hovnanian as the inventor and titled “Mortar Less Brick Wall Construction”, describes a brick wall and a brick therefore that aim to solve the above-described drawback of conventional brick wall. The brick is shaped for tong ang groove cooperation on opposite top and bottom sides with a bevel at each of the four corners so that the bevel imitates a mortar joint when two such bricks are superimposed. However, as hinted by the title of the invention, the bevels are not configured to receive mortar and, even without grout therein, are pale imitations of mortar joints.

Many other methods and apparatuses exit that aims at providing consistent spacing between adjacent layers of wall brick. An example of such methods and apparatuses is described by Berg in U.S. Pat. No. 6,840,019 issued on Jan. 11, 2005, which includes adding spacers between bricks while raising a wall. A drawback of such methods and systems is that they are complicated and involve additional steps in constructing a wall, which yields additional costs. Another drawback is that such methods and systems imply storing, moving and handling spacers in addition to the bricks.

A wall block free of the above-described drawbacks is therefore desired.

SUMMARY

The problem of evenly spacing adjacent wall blocks when forming a wall is solved by providing a wall block having an integrated spacer on at least one side thereof adjacent the decorative side or on the decorative side, wherein the spacer is distanced from at least two adjacent edges of the decorative side so as to create a gap between two adjacent such blocks when they are abutted.

According to illustrative embodiments, there is provided a wall block comprising:

-   -   a generally rectangular body having a decorative face and five         other faces; the generally rectangular body having at least one         spacer face, each being one of i) the decorative face and ii)         one of the five other faces that is adjacent to the decorative         face; each spacer face having a peripheral edge;     -   at least one spacer, each defined by a depression along a         portion of the peripheral edge of the at least one spacer face;         the depression yielding a groove between the wall block and         another wall block when the at least one spacer face of the wall         block is abutted with the other block.

According to other illustrative embodiment, there is provided a wall constructed using a plurality such wall blocks that are abutted side by side or piled.

According to still another illustrative embodiment, there is provided a wall block comprising:

-   -   a generally rectangular body including a decorative side that         has four edges and five other sides; and     -   at least one spacer, each integrated to at least one of i) the         decorative side and ii) one of the five other sides that is         adjacent the decorative side; the at least one spacer being         distanced from at least two adjacent edges of the decorative         side so as to create a gap between two adjacent wall blocks when         they are abutted.

It is to be noted that the expression “depression” should be construed as including a portion of the brick that is lower than adjacent portions or recessed relative thereto.

Providing integrated spacers, yields improved surface to surface contact between two adjacent blocks compared to the use of independent spacer systems from the prior art, which yields a better wall adhesion. Conventional concrete adhesive can however still be used in constructing a wall using wall blocks according to illustrative embodiments, to strengthen the adherence between blocks.

It should be understood at the outset that, although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the appended drawings:

FIG. 1 is bottom perspective of a block wall according to an illustrative embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective of a wall block according to a first illustrative embodiment, that is part of the wall from FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective of a wall block according to a second illustrative embodiment, that is part of the wall from FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 4 is a perspective of a pallet including wall blocks from FIG. 2 , illustrating how the configuration of such blocks protects the decorative face thereof when they are palletized;

FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective of a wall block according to a third illustrative embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective of a wall block according to a third illustrative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, similar features in the drawings have been given similar reference numerals, and in order not to weigh down the figures, some elements are not referred to in some figures if they were already identified in a precedent figure. Herein, it shall further be noted that, for avoiding unnecessary details obscuring the invention, only device structures and/or processing steps closely relevant to schemes according to the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings while omitting other details less relevant to the invention.

The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one”, but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more”, “at least one”, and “one or more than one”. Similarly, the word “another” may mean at least a second or more.

As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “include” and “includes”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contain” and “contains”), are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, un-recited elements.

An illustrative embodiment of a block wall 10 is shown in FIG. 1 . The block wall 10 is made of a plurality of concrete blocks 12 and 14 according to first and second illustrative embodiments.

In FIG. 1 , the wall 10 and blocks 12 and 14 are shown from below to better show the inventive features thereof. However, the first row of blocks 12 and 14 of the wall 10 sits firmly on the ground or on a foundation like for any conventional block wall.

The wall 10 can be used, without limitations, as a retaining wall, a perimeter fence, a garden wall/outside decorative wall, etc.

As will become more apparent upon reading the following description of the blocks 12 and 14, they can be assembled to form a block wall having another configuration than illustrated in FIG. 1 .

In all cases, abutting and piling a plurality of such wall blocks 12 and 14, yields a block wall 10 automatically provided with constantly shaped decorative joints.

With reference to FIG. 2 , a concrete wall blocks 12 according to a first illustrative embodiment will now be described.

The wall block 12 is a generally rectangular body having a front decorative face 16, a back face (not shown) opposite the front face 16, first and second lateral faces 18 and 20, and top (not shown) and bottom 22 faces.

The block 12 includes two (2) spacers 24 and 26, located respectively on the first lateral face 18 and on the bottom face 22, which are both adjacent the decorative face 16. The spacers 24 and 26 result from U-shaped depressions 28 and 29 on respectively the first lateral and bottom faces 18 and 22.

As can be seen in FIG. 1 , abutting side-by-side and piling on top of each other such block 12 (or block 14) yields lateral and longitudinal decorative joints 30 and 32, the width thereof being defined by the width of the depressions 28 and 29. According to the illustrative embodiment, the width of the depressions is five 5 mm but may range between 1 mm and 20 mm.

While the width of the depressions 28 and 29 is the same laterally and longitudinally, a wall block according to another illustrative embodiment (not shown) can be provided with a U-shaped depression having different sizes laterally and longitudinally.

The depressions 28 and 29 have a depth that is sufficient to yield the decorative joint. According to the illustrative embodiment, the depth of the depressions 28 and 29, which is also the height of the spacers 24 and 26, is 30 mm, but may range between 10 mm and 100 mm.

The spacer 26 has a bottom surface 34 that is parallel to the top face so as to yield a stable contact therebetween, when two or more blocks 12 are piled for storage or shipping.

FIG. 4 illustrates a shipping pallet 36 comprising identical wall blocks 12. As can be seen in this Figure, the peripheral edge 38 of the decorative face 16 of two adjacent blocks 12 on the pallet 36 are prevented from coming into contact by the groove 32 formed by the depression 28. This prevents the decorative face 16, which is the main visible face of the block 12, and therefore of the wall 10, from being chipped during transport, thereby preserving its integrity and appearance.

While the spacers 26 and 28 have rounded peripheral edges 40 and 42.

The block 12 according to the first illustrative embodiment is the result of a molding process. More specifically, the block 12 results from a molding process that involves a mold, including a plurality of cavities, each to form a block 12, (not shown), is the mold being removed from the top after molding. This limits the shape of any spacer created on the periphery of the block using such process.

According to such a manufacturing process for the block 12, the front decorative face 16 corresponds to the top face of the block 12 within the mold cavity. This further gives the option of filling the mold cavities with two (2) layers of concrete, a back mix, and a front color mix, the later providing the decorative face 16 of the resulting block 12 with some coloration.

The same molding process provides the further option of adding markings on the decorative face 16.

While the blocks 12 on FIG. 1 are shown having generally the same dimension, similar rectangular blocks that have different sizes or proportions can also be provided, which could be used to add aesthetic variability in raising a wall.

A wall block 14 according to a second illustrative embodiment will now be described with reference to FIG. 3 . Since the wall block 14 is similar to the wall block 12, only the differences therebetween will be described herein for concision purposes.

The rectangular wall block 14 has dimensions similar to the rectangular block 12. While this similarity is not necessary, this add to the illusion that all blocks 12 and 14 are simply regular rectangular shaped blocks without any spacers.

However, compared to the block 12, the block 14 does not include a spacer 24 on any of its lateral side 18 or 20 and includes only spacer 26 on its bottom side 22.

As can be seen in FIG. 1 , such a configuration of the block 14 renders the block 14 suitable to create wall corner, which can be achieved by piling the blocks 14 while alternating their orientation ninety (90) degrees. Such piling, in addition to their side-by-side abutment with adjacent blocks 12, yields the same lateral and longitudinal decorative joints 30 and 32 as described hereinabove, while preventing any spacer from being visible on the resulting wall 10. The same can be said of the use of block 14 as coping blocks.

FIG. 5 illustrates a wall block 44 according to another illustrative embodiment. Since the block 44 is very similar to the block 14, only the difference therebetween will be described herein in more detail for concision purposes.

The only difference between the blocks 14 and 44, is that the peripheral edge 46 of the decorative face 48 thereof is chamfered, which can be obtained, for example, by modifying the mold used to make the blocks 14 as described hereinabove. Providing a chamfer on the edge 46 of the face 48 has been found to minimize chipping thereof, both during and after their installation.

The configuration of the wall blocks 12 and 14 allows their cutting longitudinally, using for example a concrete saw, while preserving their spacers 24, and 26. With reference to FIG. 1 , this allows easily creating blocks of different length, such as blocks 50 and 52, when raising a wall 10, and still maintaining the uniformity of the appearance thereof.

Turning now to FIG. 6 , a wall block 54 according to a third illustrative embodiment, will now be described. Since the block 54 is similar to the block 12, only the difference therebetween will be described herein for concision purposes.

The block 54 further includes a L-shaped depression 56 along the periphery of the decorative face 16, resulting in the lateral and bottom faces 18 and 22 becoming respectively spacers 58 and 60. More specifically, the depression 56 extends along the full length of two faces 18 and 22, which are adjacent the decorative face 16.

A person skilled in the art will now appreciate that, since the depth of the depression 56 does not go all through the depth of the wall block 54, no dirt can come through from the side of the wall opposite decorative side 16.

The block 54 can be used in place of the block 12, whereby abutting side-by-side and piling on top of each other such block 54 (or block 14) yields the same lateral and longitudinal decorative joints 30 and 32,

It is to be noted that many modifications could be made to the blocks 12 and 14 or a wall 10 constructed therewith described hereinabove and illustrated in the appended drawings. For example:

-   -   while the wall blocks 12, 14, and 56 are shown having generally         the same dimension, similar rectangular blocks that have         different sizes or proportions can also be provided, which could         be used to add aesthetic variability when raising a wall;     -   while the wall blocks 12, 14 and 54 are shown including spacers         that allows their manufacturing using a process where they can         be stripped out of a mold plate or cavity, a wall block provided         with one or two spacers according to another illustrative         embodiment (not shown) can have other configurations or be         manufactured using another process than described herein;     -   grout can be added in the decorative joints 30 and 32.

Although wall blocks and a wall therewith have been described hereinabove by way of illustrated embodiments thereof, they can be modified. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that the scope of the claims should not be limited by the thereby but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole. 

1. A wall block comprising: a generally rectangular body having a decorative face and five other faces; the generally rectangular body having at least one spacer face, each being one of the five other faces that is adjacent to the decorative face; each spacer face having a peripheral edge; and at least one spacer, each defined by a depression along a portion of the peripheral edge of the at least one spacer face; the depression yielding a gap between the wall block and another wall block when the at least one spacer face of the wall block is abutted with the other block; wherein the depression extends along full lengths of two faces selected from i) the decorative face and ii) the five other faces that are both adjacent one another and adjacent to the at least one spacer face.
 2. (Canceled)
 3. The wall block as recited in claim 1, wherein the depression has longitudinal and lateral portions of different widths.
 4. The wall block as recited in claim 1, wherein the depression is generally U-shaped and extends along full lengths of three faces selected from i) the decorative face and ii) the five other faces that are adjacent to the at least one spacer face.
 5. The wall block as recited in claim 4, wherein the U-shaped depression defines two longitudinal portions having a first width and a lateral portion that has a second width that is different than the first width.
 6. The wall block as recited in claim 1, wherein the spacer has a surface that is generally parallel to one of the five other faces that is opposite the at least one spacer face.
 7. The wall block as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one spacer face includes two spacer faces and the at least one spacer includes two spacers, each one on a respective spacer face.
 8. The wall block as recited in claim 1, which is made of concrete.
 9. The wall block as recited in claim 8, which is manufactured by a molding process.
 10. The wall block as recited in claim 9, wherein the molding process includes stripping out the wall block from a mold plate or from a molding cavity.
 11. The wall block as recited in claim 9, wherein the decorative face has a different color than at least one of the five other faces.
 12. The wall block as recited in claim 1, wherein the decorative face has a peripheral edge that is chamfered.
 13. A block wall comprising a plurality of wall blocks as recited in claim 1, which are either abutted side-by-side or piled.
 14. The block wall as recited in claim 13, wherein at least one of the gap is filled with grout.
 15. A wall block comprising: a generally rectangular body including a decorative side that has four edges and five other sides; and at least one spacer, each integrated to one of the five other sides that is adjacent the decorative side; the at least one spacer being distanced from at least two adjacent edges of the decorative side so as to create a gap between two adjacent wall blocks when they are abutted; wherein the at least one spacer includes two spacers, on two adjacent sides, among the five other sides, that are adjacent the decorative side.
 16. (canceled)
 17. The wall block as recited in claim 15, wherein wall block is manufactured using a molding process that includes stripping out the wall block from a mold plate or from a molding cavity. 